The Korea Information Society Development Institute (KISDI), in collaboration with the Korea Communications Commission (KCC), held “2015 International Conference on Inter-Korean Broadcasting and Communications” on October 13, 2015 at the Ritz-Carlton Seoul. Under the theme of  “Promoting Inter-Korean Exchange and Cooperation in Broadcasting and Communications and its Future”, this conference was prepared to share the current issues in the broadcasting and communications sector and promote mutual understanding and cooperation between the two Koreas.

This conference was attended by about 300 participants including Choi Sung-joon, Chairman of the Korea Communications Commission (KCC), Kim Do-whan, President of KISDI, Hong Moon-jong, Chairman of the Science, ICT, Future Planning, Broadcasting and Communications Committee at the National Assembly, Hyun Kyung-dae, Executive Vice-Chairperson of the National Unification Advisory Council, broadcasting and communications experts from Germany, the U.S., China and Japan, experts on inter-Korean issues, officials from embassies in Korea as well as domestic and overseas journalists and scholars.

In Session 1, with Ahn Yin-hay as the chair, Kim Yong-ki, Director of Inter-Korea Cooperation at KBS (“Co-production of Broadcasting Programs”), Prof. Fengyu Li of Yanbian University (“North Korea’s Plan for Digital Conversion and Support for UHD”) and Prof. Jang Gyu-soo of Daekyeung University (“Strategies to Promote Broadcasting Exchanges Based on Popular Content”) made their presentations, while Dr. Detlef Kohn, Former Director of Sachsen Media, Germany participated as the guest speaker and shared the experience of the unification of Germany with a focus on radio and television broadcasting in divided Germany.

Jung Hak-kee, President of the Korea Institute of Information and Communication Engineering chaired Session 2 with Park Chan-mo, Chancellor of Pyongyang University of Science and Technology (“North Korea’s IT Sector and IT Professionals”), Jiro Ishimaru, Leader of the North Korea Team at ASIAPRESS (“North Korea’s Special Economic Zones and IT”), and Kim Jung-ryong, Former Medical Director of Gaesung Cooperating Hospital “IT for Humanitarian Support”), as the presenters of the session.

In Session 3, the presentation titled “Exchange Promotion and the Role of the Broadcasting and Communications Industry” by Kim Chul-wan, Senior Research Fellow of KISDI was followed by the Roundtable Discussion on the promotion of inter-Korean exchanges and the establishment and operation of a cooperation channel between the two Koreas, which was chaired by Prof. Yoon Dae-kyu of Kyungnam University and participated by all presenters and panelists.

Contact: Seo So-young, Researcher, Department of International Cooperation Research (Tel:043-531-4412)